Ohio University has announced a $70 million gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation for the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The award includes $45 million allocated for research and up to $25 million in support of scholarships, upon raising $25 million in matching funds. The commitment brings the foundation’s total support of the Heritage College to more than $193 million. The gift, which launches Vision 2035—a 10-year plan for the college focused on minimizing debt for medical school students and expanding translational research—also will establish several endowed faculty positions and a new institute focused on aging, enable the design and implementation of a data science core, fund new equipment at the new Heritage Translational Research Center, and expand research opportunities for osteopathic medical students.

Over the next decade, support from the foundation will help provide annual scholarships to 100 additional students, reducing the cost of in-state tuition and fees by at least 50 percent. Scholarship recipients going into primary care or a high-need specialty within Ohio may have up to 100 percent of their tuition and fees covered, which could nearly double the number of Heritage College students receiving scholarships.

“Our long-term partnership with the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is integral to our mission to improve health and quality of life through education, research and service consistent with our osteopathic heritage,” said Osteopathic Heritage Foundation president and CEO Terri Donlin Huesman. “This latest commitment has two primary goals: to substantially increase scholarships for medical students and to strengthen the Heritage College’s research enterprise with a focus on discovery that leads to life-changing impact.”

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